Tia’s Smooth Life After Regression - Chapter 55

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Tiya’s Smooth Regression Life

 

Chapter 55

 

The place where Noir had swallowed her in one gulp was definitely Tiya’s room.

 

‘I only woke up from a nightmare.’

 

No matter how she looked at it, this wasn’t her room. No, it didn’t even seem to be Vladijef Manor.

 

A ceiling so high that the end was invisible.

 

Stone decorations and ornate crafts scattered chaotically throughout the room, creating a rough yet antique atmosphere.

 

It was definitely her first time here, yet somehow it felt strangely familiar.

 

“I’ve definitely seen this place somewhere. Hmm.”

 

Winter spoke to Tiya, who couldn’t keep her head still and was looking around everywhere.

 

“You’re probably still in a dream. The proof is—”

 

“The proof is?”

 

Winter lowered his voice and gestured for her to come closer. The moment Tiya held her breath and stretched her head toward Winter.

 

Flick!

 

“Kyaaang!”

 

A splitting pain struck Tiya’s forehead as if it would crack open.

 

Tiya covered her forehead with both hands and looked up at Winter resentfully.

 

“Uuung. I think there’s a hole in my forehead…”

 

“You dull disciple. Is that all you have to say?”

 

“It’s true! If I look in a mirror, the spot where Winter flicked me will be dented… Huh?”

 

Winter flicked her?

 

Along with that question, she suddenly remembered that she had buried her face in Winter’s lap and cried earlier.

 

“Uh…? Uh uh? Huh?”

 

Tiya circled around Winter while covering her forehead, examining his side profile, back, and front without missing anything.

 

The stylish uniform of the Vladijef Knights.

 

A long sword sheathed at his waist.

 

Even his trained physique that couldn’t be hidden by the uniform that covered his entire body.

 

Everything was the same, but there was one thing that had changed.

 

“You’re not transparent!”

 

“You’re just noticing that now. You really—”

 

“Winter!”

 

Tiya body-slammed Winter, who was about to pour out a lecture.

 

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Winter fell backward and landed on his bottom.

 

Pain he hadn’t felt in a very long time spread through his tailbone to his entire body.

 

“You… getting revenge for the flick like this—”

 

“Always, I’ve always wanted to give you a heart attack like this.”

 

Winter’s hand, which had been trying to push Tiya away, stopped in mid-air.

 

Tiya burrowed even deeper into Winter’s embrace and rubbed her cheek against him.

 

The child’s body temperature was hotter than expected, and everywhere her cheek touched felt ticklish.

 

Winter’s hesitating hand slowly touched Tiya’s back.

 

He had thought about it earlier too.

 

‘She’s smaller than I thought.’

 

While thinking that, he unconsciously patted Tiya’s back.

 

“Don’t get snot on me.”

 

Not leaving out even one spiteful comment.

 

* * *

 

No matter how skilled a Spirit Mage might be, they couldn’t fully understand all the powers of the spirits they had bound.

 

Unless they were Greater Spirits, communication with spirits was impossible.

 

In this regard, the special abilities possessed by certain spirits were always an unknown territory.

 

The abilities possessed by shadow spirits were a prime example of this.

 

Tiya and Winter put their heads together and shared the information they each knew.

 

“First of all. We haven’t woken up from the dream yet. The proof is that I’ve gained a physical form.”

 

“But we’re not having a nightmare either. The nightmare I had was much, much scarier.”

 

They were in a dream, but not a nightmare.

 

Yet they were aware that they were dreaming.

 

Combining all this information, there was only one conclusion Winter could reach.

 

“It seems like some kind of lucid dream.”

 

“What’s a lucid dream?”

 

“It’s a state where you’re aware that you’re dreaming. Usually, you can wake up when you strongly realize it’s a dream, or when you focus on the sensations of your body in reality…”

 

“It’s too difficult, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

 

“You have your eyes open now, but your real body is lying unconscious after being bitten by that snake.”

 

Tiya’s expression became puzzled.

 

She felt like she understood but also didn’t quite get it.

 

“If you don’t understand, just close your eyes and try to open them with the intention of opening your real body’s eyes.”

 

Tiya still looked uncertain, but she closed her eyes as Winter instructed.

 

And she told herself.

 

‘This is a dream.’

 

‘The real me is asleep after being bitten by Noir.’

 

‘So when I open my eyes, I need to open my real eyes, not the dream eyes.’

 

Tiya steeled her resolve and began counting backward in her mind.

 

Three. Two. One.

 

Flash!

 

“How is it, Winter! Do I seem to have woken up from the dream?”

 

Flick!

 

“Kyaang! …I’m still dreaming.”

 

Winter answered by mercilessly flicking her forehead.

 

The smile that seemed to form at the corner of his mouth looked quite satisfied, which was probably not just her imagination.

 

After that, they tried various methods to wake up from the lucid dream, but nothing worked.

 

Exhausted, Tiya flopped down on the floor.

 

“Why don’t we just wait until someone wakes us up? I’m having fun playing with Winter here anyway.”

 

“Sleep caused by shadow spirits is hard to wake up from, and I’m not playing with you right now either.”

 

“Tch, how petty.”

 

Tiya, who had been pouting, suddenly sat up as if something had occurred to her.

 

Come to think of it…!

 

“Tiya, find the door. That’s the exit.”

 

“Brother said that before being bitten by Noir! To find the door!”

 

Winter’s mouth gradually opened, then he spoke as if dumbfounded.

 

“Why are you only remembering that important fact now?”

 

Having updated their new objective, the two began searching their surroundings in earnest to find the ‘door’ that Rodion had mentioned.

 

At first glance, it seemed like the inside of a massive castle, but the internal structure was strangely tangled.

 

Corridors and stairs were suddenly cut off, and the ceiling height varied irregularly from space to space.

 

After exploring the castle interior for a while, they were able to reach one conclusion.

 

“That’s the flag on the spire of Frost Castle! This is pottery I saw at Vladijef Manor. And that thing over there is…”

 

This suspicious castle was a place created based on Tiya’s memories.

 

It seemed like pieces of the North’s Frost Castle, the Dominion’s Vladijef Manor, and the Mage Towers she had glimpsed in nightmares had been cut up and randomly pieced together.

 

That’s why it felt strangely familiar.

 

She had roughly grasped the layout, but now faced another problem.

 

“Which of these doors is the one my brother mentioned?”

 

There seemed to be dozens of doors just within the castle alone.

 

Moreover, the doors were all different sizes and shapes.

 

There were polished wooden doors like the front gate of a newly built house, while others had collapsed stone pillars making them completely inaccessible.

 

Just as she hesitated, unable to hastily decide which one to choose.

 

A very familiar door caught Tiya’s eye.

 

“Winter, look at this! It’s my room from Frost Castle!”

 

Though only a few months had passed since she left, it felt like she was seeing it after a very long time, making her heart feel tender.

 

“Should I open it? It should be okay to open it, right? Since it’s my room.”

 

“Well, we should check what’s beyond these many doors at least once.”

 

Though he spoke casually, Winter’s hand moved toward the staff at his waist.

 

It was to respond immediately to any unexpected situation.

 

Soon, Tiya pushed the door open with all her strength.

 

Making their caution seem pointless, the inside of the room was exactly as Tiya remembered it.

 

The snowy landscape of the North visible through the tall windows. The massive fireplace and velvet-finished wallpaper.

 

However, what she hadn’t expected was that there was already a prior occupant in the room.

 

Disheveled jet-black hair.

 

A very small child with plump cheeks as if hiding a handful of candy inside them and golden eyes brimming with tears.

 

“G-Grandmama has gone missing…”

 

Five-year-old Tiya, with a face like a motherless baby crow, was clinging to the Butler of Frost Castle’s trouser leg and babbling with a frightened expression.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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